Prof. Dr. Yusuf Baran is a Rector of the Izmir Institute of Technology. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. at Middle East Technical University, Department of Biological Sciences. During his Ph.D. studies, he earned a NATO scholarship to work in the Medical University of South Carolina of the United States of America, Hollings Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has been involved in more than 20 national and international research projects. Two of the projects were supported by the European Union Community.